Brimfield Massachusetts is the site of the largest outdoor antique show in New England, with over 5000 dealers from all over the country. The show occurs 3 times a year, in May, July, and September, and has been taking place along the farmlands bordering Route 20 (the Old Boston Post Road) since the 1950's, when Gordon Reid used to host auctions in one of the fields. These auctions, popular in their own right, soon expanded (thanks in part to Gordon Reid's son, an entrepreneur who began the move from one field into today's mile long, 3 times a year 7 day outdoor antiques fair. The farmers along this route no longer farm their fields; the sprouting of tents in May, July and September is far more lucrative than any crop could be! This year, Marash Girl and Karoun intended to visit (after a 3 year hiatus), if only to take photos, but the 2nd to the last day of this July's fair was hot, the dealer's tempers short (as were, in most likelihood, their sales), and the wares as well as the photo ops slim pickings.
A 'mid-century' glass vase turns out to have begun life as a glass of Coca-Cola for its owner, who here illustrates the way in which he drank a glassful of Coca-Cola in Italy thirty years ago from this very vase. The vase was on his $5 table and hadn't sold yet. It was 3:00 PM.
My parent's collected antiques and were in the antique business. Brimfield was a ritual. We set up there a number of years in the late 60s and the 70s. The name brings back memories.
ReplyDeleteM.P.